Sunday, May 3, 2009

Sylvester and Tweety

62 years ago today, two of the most beloved animated characters co-starred in their first picture together in "Tweety Pie"This synopsis is taken from page 174/175 of "Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies - A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons" by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald.

Tweety had made his debut as an unnamed character in "A Tale of Two Kitties" on November 21, 1942 (6:38). The little birdie was featherless and a little harsher in character but the mannerisms and phrasing is most definitely Tweety! He was pursued by two cats named Babbit and Castello (a takeoff on Abbot and Costello). His second feature was "Birdy and The Beast" which was released on August 19, 1944 (7:25) also features a featherless and nameless bird. The unnamed cat could easily be a close relative of Sylvester. "A Gruesome Twosome" (June 9, 1945) was his last cartoon without feathers and also the last before he is permanently paired with Sylvester.

Sylvester and Tweety also made cameo appearances in several Looney Tunes retrospectives and specials, as well as on the big screen in movies like: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", "Space Jam" and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action"

They also costarred in the Warner Brothers cartoon series called"The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries" which ran for 53 episodes from September 9, 1995 – December 13, 2002. In this series, Granny was a renowned detective who traveled around the world with Sylvester, Tweety and a bulldog named Hector who helped her solve cases when they weren't getting into mischief! Although it was not quite as witty as the original cartoons, there was a still a lot of great rapport and topical references mixed in with the humour.

I came across this video on YouTube called "The Sylvester and Tweety Song". The creator goes by the name of toocute4you2 and obviously spent a lot of time adding just the right pictures to the song. I don't know for sure when the song was originally recorded and could not verify if the voice is that of Mel Blanc, but I have my doubts. The Sylvester is fairly close, but the Tweety doesn't quite sound like the way Mel Blanc would do it. Even so, it is a very cute little ditty and a very fitting tribute to this lovable duo!

About Me

I was born in the late 50's and raised on a prairie farm. I've lived in Winnipeg since 1984. I have always had low vision but have been legally blind since 1990.
I have a wickedly warped sense of humour and love to laugh.
My interests include; music, baking, cooking, mysteries and much more.
You will learn more about me as you read the posts.